AMERICAN IDOL WINNER JOINS THE VOICE

For the record I have never been a fan of singing competition shows. I've always gravitated more toward dancing shows like America's Best Dance Crew and So You Think You Can Dance (not necessarily Dancing With the Stars, since I'm not a big fan of ballroom dancing). If you've watched American Idol and it's many imitators, it's always the same schtick. Some kid who would never make it in the real world of mainstream music making gets a shot on a reality show where they sing some karaoke rendition of a song I used to love listening to growing up instead of putting their own spin on the track, and some has-been musician judges them on a panel.

Besides AI having annoying ass wannabe Simon and Paula Abdul imitators Randy Jackson & J Ho alongside a granny drag queen as judges, and the real Simon and Paula alongside personality-challenged Nicole Scherzinger and legendary scene queen L.A. Reid boring me to tears on X Factor, the one thing that has given a show like The Voice a leg up above all the rest is the fact that all the judges on the show are all current chart-toppers. But that doesn't mean the show pulled in AI-like numbers in it's first season. I should also note that even though Javier Colon won the first season, did any one of you go out and buy his new album? I think not. when two of the four judges score a bigger hit than you (with Maroon 5 and Christina Aguilera's summer hit Moves Like Jagger), and gain a bigger following than the contestants on the show, clearly there needs to be some rethinking on the part of the music machine.

So as season 2 quickly approaches (right after the Super Bowl), producers of The Voice are pulling out all the stops as to what big names they can get to help boost ratings. According to reports, American Idol season 1 winner Kelly Clarkson will join the new season as a mentor to Blake Shelton's picks. Shelton's wife Country singer Miranda Lambert will also lend her expertise to the wannabe superstars. Other celebs joining the new season as mentors are Alanis Morrissette, Ne-Yo, Lionel Richie, Baby Face, Jewel and Robin Thicke.

Here's a breakdown of which celebs will be lending their expertise as Season 2 judges/mentors:

Team Adam: Alanis Morisette, Robin Thicke


Team Blake: Kelly Clarkson, Miranda Lambert

Team Christina Aguilera: Jewel, Lionel Richie

Team Cee-Lo: Ne-Yo, Baby Face

“The thing I love about The Voice is that they’re more mentors — they’re not judges,” Clarkson said during an interview last September. “I would never really want to be a judge, just because I don’t want to break people’s hearts.”

I think this is a good look for Kelly, who could use a boost in sales of her latest album Stronger. Causing a little controversy endoursing Ron Paul for President will only take your sales but so far, and I think Kelly has had bigger dreams of becoming a country singer moreso than a pop star. So far Kelly is the only mentor on the show who has reality competition experience, so if there was anyone's advice I would take it would be hers.